ate of all the seeds contained in ten boxes imported by government
in 1845, not one having germinated, which was much to be regretted.
Had they been sent in small parcels, well packed in wax cloth, to
prevent them from being injured by moisture, and placed in an airy
part of the vessel in transmission from China to Calcutta, and, on
arrival there, sent by dawk banghay direct to the plantation, they
would, I am confident, have reached in good condition. It is well
worthy of a trial and seeds ought, if possible, to be obtained from
every district celebrated for its teas. It is in this manner, by
obtaining seeds of the finest varieties of plants, that the finest
teas will be procured. I do not mean to infer that the tea plants
now under cultivation are not the produce of fine varieties, for
that has been proved by the undoubted testimony of the London
brokers, but only that there are, no doubt, many others well worthy
of introduction. In confirmation of what I have stated, I may quote
the words of my late friend Dr. Griffith, who, in his report on the
tea plant of Assam, says--"I now come to the consideration of the
steps which, in my opinion, must be followed if any degree of
success in the cultivation of tea is to be expected; of these the
most important is the importation of Chinese seeds of
unexceptionable quality, and of small numbers of their sorts."[11]
Dr. Royle, too, who was the first person to point out that the
Himalayas were well adapted to tea cultivation, and to whom the
credit of recommending to government the introduction of the plant
into Northern India is due, strongly urges the necessity of
importing seeds from different localities in China celebrated for
their teas.

_Method and season for plucking and gathering leaves_.--The season
for picking leaves commences in April and continues until October.
The number of gatherings varies, depending on the moisture[12] or
dryness of the season. If the season be good, as many as seven
gatherings may be obtained. If, however, the rains are partial, only
four or five. These, however, may be reduced to their general
periods for gathering--that is, from April to June, from July to
15th August, and from September to the end of October. But few
leaves are collected after the 15th of the latter month. As soon as
the new and youn